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Debt
Collection - Questions & Answers
What types of debt collection
practices are prohibited?
Harassment: Debt collectors may
not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third
parties they contact. For example, debt collectors
may not:
- use threats of violence or harm;
publish a list of consumers who refuse to
pay their debts (except to a credit bureau);
- use obscene or profane language;
repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone.
- False statements: Debt collectors may not
use any false or misleading statements when
collecting a debt. For example, debt collectors
may not:
- falsely imply that they are attorneys
or government representatives;
- falsely imply that you have committed
a crime;
- falsely represent that they operate
or work for a credit bureau;
- misrepresent the amount of your debt;
- indicate that papers being sent to you
are legal forms when they are not;
- indicate that papers being sent to you
are not legal forms when they are.
Debt collectors also may not
state that:
- you will be arrested if you do not pay your
debt;
- they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell
your property or wages, unless
- the collection agency or creditor intends
to do so, and it is legal to do so;
- actions, such as a lawsuit, will be taken
against you, when such action legally may
not be taken, or when they do not intend to
take such action.
In addition, debt collectors
may not:
- give false credit information about you
to anyone, including a credit bureau;
- send you anything that looks like an official
document from a court or government agency
when it is not;
- use a false name.
Unfair practices: Debt collectors
may not engage in unfair practices when they try
to collect a debt. For example, collectors may
not:
- collect any amount greater than your debt,
unless your state law permits such a charge;
- deposit a post-dated check prematurely;
- use deception to make you accept collect
calls or pay for telegrams;
- take or threaten to take your property unless
this can be done legally;
- contact you by postcard.
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